Navigation or mapping apparatus &amp; method

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a navigation device ( 200 ) comprising a display ( 240 ) for displaying a digital map to a user, a processor ( 210 ) configured to access digital map data and cause a digital map to be displayed to a user using the display, and a user interface operable by a user to enable the user to interact with the apparatus. The user interface is arranged to allow a user to provide, on the displayed digital map displayed to the user, an indication of a selected region present in the digital map which the user wishes to include or exclude from a route calculation process. The processor ( 210 ) is arranged to determine digital map data relating to the selected region indicated by the user, and to calculate a route including or excluding the region.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to navigation or mapping apparatus, and methodsof operating navigation or mapping apparatus. Illustrative embodimentsof the invention relate to portable navigation devices (so-called PNDs),in particular PNDs that include Global Positioning System (GPS) signalreception and processing functionality. The invention is also applicableto a navigation apparatus which forms part of an integrated navigationsystem, e.g. an in-vehicle navigation system. Other embodiments relate,more generally, to any type of processing device that is configured toexecute navigation or mapping software so as to provide route planning,and preferably also navigation, functionality, and methods of operatingsuch devices. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention isconcerned with the interaction between a user and the digital map dataof such devices.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a navigation or mapping apparatus,and methods of operating such apparatus. The apparatus may be of anysuitable form as discussed above, and in more detail below. Oneillustrative embodiment of the apparatus is a portable navigation devicecomprising the apparatus of the invention. Portable navigation devices(PNDs) that include GPS (Global Positioning System) signal reception andprocessing functionality are well known and are widely employed asin-car or other vehicle navigation systems.

In general terms, a modern PNDs comprises a processor, memory (at leastone of volatile and non-volatile, and commonly both), and map datastored within said memory. The processor and memory cooperate to providean execution environment in which a software operating system may beestablished, and additionally it is commonplace for one or moreadditional software programs to be provided to enable the functionalityof the PND to be controlled, and to provide various other functions.

Typically these devices further comprise one or more input interfacesthat allow a user to interact with and control the device, and one ormore output interfaces by means of which information may be relayed tothe user. Illustrative examples of output interfaces include a visualdisplay and a speaker for audible output. Illustrative examples of inputinterfaces include one or more physical buttons to control on/offoperation or other features of the device (which buttons need notnecessarily be on the device itself but could be on a steering wheel ifthe device is built into a vehicle), and a microphone for detecting userspeech. In a particularly preferred arrangement the output interfacedisplay may be configured as a touch sensitive display (by means of atouch sensitive overlay or otherwise) to additionally provide an inputinterface by means of which a user can operate the device by touch.

Devices of this type will also often include one or more physicalconnector interfaces by means of which power and optionally data signalscan be transmitted to and received from the device, and optionally oneor more wireless transmitters/receivers to allow communication overcellular telecommunications and other signal and data networks, forexample Wi-Fi, Wi-Max GSM and the like.

PND devices of this type also include a GPS antenna by means of whichsatellite-broadcast signals, including location data, can be receivedand subsequently processed to determine a current location of thedevice.

The PND device may also include electronic gyroscopes and accelerometerswhich produce signals that can be processed to determine the currentangular and linear acceleration, and in turn, and in conjunction withlocation information derived from the GPS signal, velocity and relativedisplacement of the device and thus the vehicle in which it is mounted.Typically such features are most commonly provided in in-vehiclenavigation systems, but may also be provided in PND devices if it isexpedient to do so.

The utility of such PNDs is manifested primarily in their ability todetermine a route between a first location (typically a start or currentlocation) and a second location (typically a destination). Theselocations can be input by a user of the device, by any of a wide varietyof different methods, for example by postcode, street name and housenumber, previously stored “well known” destinations (such as famouslocations, municipal locations (such as sports grounds or swimmingbaths) or other points of interest), and favourite or recently visiteddestinations.

Typically, the PND is enabled by software for computing a “best” or“optimum” route between the start and destination address locations fromthe map data. A “best” or “optimum” route is determined on the basis ofpredetermined criteria and need not necessarily be the fastest orshortest route. The selection of the route along which to guide thedriver can be very sophisticated, and the selected route may take intoaccount existing, predicted and dynamically and/or wirelessly receivedtraffic and road information, historical information about road speeds,and the driver's own preferences for the factors determining road choice(for example the driver may specify that the route should not includemotorways or toll roads).

In addition, the device may continually monitor road and trafficconditions, and offer to or choose to change the route over which theremainder of the journey is to be made due to changed conditions. Realtime traffic monitoring systems, based on various technologies (e.g.mobile phone data exchanges, fixed cameras, GPS fleet tracking) arebeing used to identify traffic delays and to feed the information intonotification systems.

PNDs of this type may typically be mounted on the dashboard orwindscreen of a vehicle, but may also be formed as part of an on-boardcomputer of the vehicle radio or indeed as part of the control system ofthe vehicle itself. The navigation device may also be part of ahand-held system, such as a PDA (Portable Digital Assistant) a mediaplayer, a mobile phone or the like, and in these cases, the normalfunctionality of the hand-held system is extended by means of theinstallation of software on the device to perform both route calculationand navigation along a calculated route.

Route planning and navigation functionality may also be provided by adesktop or mobile computing resource running appropriate software. Forexample, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) provides an on-line routeplanning and navigation facility at http://www.rac.co.uk, which facilityallows a user to enter a start point and a destination whereupon theserver to which the user's PC is connected calculates a route (aspectsof which may be user specified), generates a map, and generates a set ofexhaustive navigation instructions for guiding the user from theselected start point to the selected destination. The facility alsoprovides for pseudo three-dimensional rendering of a calculated route,and route preview functionality which simulates a user travelling alongthe route and thereby provides the user with a preview of the calculatedroute.

In the context of a PND, once a route has been calculated, the userinteracts with the navigation device to select the desired calculatedroute, optionally from a list of proposed routes. Optionally, the usermay intervene in, or guide the route selection process, for example byspecifying that certain routes, roads, locations or criteria are to beavoided or are mandatory for a particular journey. The route calculationaspect of the PND forms one primary function, and navigation along sucha route is another primary function.

During navigation along a calculated route, it is usual for such PNDs toprovide visual and/or audible instructions to guide the user along achosen route to the end of that route, i.e. the desired destination. Itis also usual for PNDs to display map information on-screen during thenavigation, such information regularly being updated on-screen so thatthe map information displayed is representative of the current locationof the device, and thus of the user or user's vehicle if the device isbeing used for in-vehicle navigation.

An icon displayed on-screen typically denotes the current devicelocation, and is centred with the map information of current andsurrounding roads in the vicinity of the current device location andother map features also being displayed. Additionally, navigationinformation may be displayed, optionally in a status bar above, below orto one side of the displayed map information, examples of navigationinformation include a distance to the next deviation from the currentroad required to be taken by the user, the nature of that deviationpossibly being represented by a further icon suggestive of theparticular type of deviation, for example a left or right turn. Thenavigation function also determines the content, duration and timing ofaudible instructions by means of which the user can be guided along theroute. As can be appreciated a simple instruction such as “turn left in100 m” requires significant processing and analysis. As previouslymentioned, user interaction with the device may be by a touch screen, oradditionally or alternately by steering column mounted remote control,by voice activation or by any other suitable method.

A further important function provided by the device is automatic routere-calculation in the event that: a user deviates from the previouslycalculated route during navigation (either by accident orintentionally); real-time traffic conditions dictate that an alternativeroute would be more expedient and the device is suitably enabled torecognize such conditions automatically, or if a user actively causesthe device to perform route re-calculation for any reason.

It is also known to allow a route to be calculated with user definedcriteria; for example, the user may prefer a scenic route to becalculated by the device, or may wish to avoid any roads on whichtraffic congestion is likely, expected or currently prevailing. Thedevice software would then calculate various routes and weigh morefavourably those that include along their route the highest number ofpoints of interest (known as POIs) tagged as being for example of scenicbeauty, or, using stored information indicative of prevailing trafficconditions on particular roads, order the calculated routes in terms ofa level of likely congestion or delay on account thereof. OtherPOI-based and traffic information-based route calculation and navigationcriteria are also possible.

Although the route calculation and navigation functions are fundamentalto the overall utility of PNDs, it is possible to use the device purelyfor information display, or “free-driving”, in which only mapinformation relevant to the current device location is displayed, and inwhich no route has been calculated and no navigation is currently beingperformed by the device. Such a mode of operation is often applicablewhen the user already knows the route along which it is desired totravel and does not require navigation assistance.

Devices of the type described above, for example the GO 950 LIVE modelmanufactured and supplied by TomTom International B.V., provide areliable means for enabling users to navigate from one position toanother.

As will be appreciated from the above discussion, operation of suchnavigation or mapping apparatus typically involves interaction betweenthe apparatus and a user at various times in order to control theapparatus. For example, the user may specify a start point and/or adestination between which a route is to be planned. The user mayinteract with the device to modify a suggested route e.g. to avoid/govia certain locations, or to try to avoid traffic identified byapparatus with a traffic detecting function. Existing apparatus may alsoprovide considerable scope for interaction with the user to enable theuser to customise operation of the device, and provide route planningaccording to user preferences. For example, the user may specify thatroutes avoiding motorways or ferries be calculated where possible. Theapparatus may enable the user to interact with the apparatus in relationto a wide range of functions, not necessarily directly relating to routeplanning. For example the user may be able to interact with theapparatus in order to correct errors found in a map, or to search forfeatures such as points of interest (POI) in a vicinity. There arenumerous scenarios in which interaction between the user and theapparatus is necessary or desirable.

As described above, navigation or mapping apparatus may include one ormore user interfaces to enable a user to interact with the apparatus.Typically the user provides instructions via the user interface tocontrol the operation of the device via a menu based system. The usermay navigate through the menu system using commands provided usingvarious types of user interface, such as speech based or touch basedinterfaces, as well as cursor based systems, button presses etc. Whilesuch systems are of great utility, the Applicant has realised that thereis scope for a more intuitive approach to the interaction between theuser and a mapping or navigation apparatus in relation to route planningoperations involving digital map data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided anavigation or mapping apparatus, the apparatus comprising; a display fordisplaying a digital map to a user, a processor configured to accessdigital map data and cause a digital map to be displayed to a user usingthe display, and a user interface operable by a user to enable the userto interact with the apparatus; wherein the user interface is arrangedto allow a user to select a region present in the digital map byproviding one or more indications on the displayed digital map in use;and wherein in use, when a selection of a region present in the digitalmap is received from a user, the processor is arranged to determinedigital map data relating to the region selected by the user, and tocarry out one or more mapping or navigation operations using thedetermined digital map data, wherein the selected region includes aregion of the map to be included or avoided in a route to be calculated,and the processor is arranged to calculate a route which includes orexcludes at least a part of the selected region using the determineddigital map data.

In accordance with the invention therefore, the navigation or mappingapparatus is arranged such that a user may select a region present in adigital map displayed to the user via a user interface of the apparatus.The user selects the region using one or more indications on thedisplayed digital map. The apparatus is arranged to receive theselection from a user and determine digital map data relating to theselected region. The apparatus then carries out one or more mapping ornavigation operations using the determined digital map data involving aroute calculation.

In this manner, it has been found that interaction between the user andthe apparatus in relation to operations involving digital map data mayproceed more intuitively. In effect, the user may directly specify aselected region on a map displayed to the user to be included orexcluded in a route calculation. By identifying the region in thedisplayed digital map in this manner, the need to provide multipleinstructions via a menu based system may be avoided. In accordance withthe invention, the apparatus is arranged such that a user may select theselected region by making one or more indications on the displayed map.In other words, rather than going through a conventional menu system toindicate a region of interest using a series of text or speech basedcommands, the user may directly point to a region or regions on thedisplayed map itself in order to select a region. This may provide moreintuitive operation, and reduce the number of steps required for theuser to indicate a selected geographic region. This is because the userdirectly specifies a region of the geographic area represented by thedisplayed digital map. The user therefore provides an selection basedupon what is visually represented in the display rather than needing totranslate what they can see into a verbal form to control the apparatus.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with the invention in any ofits aspects, the selected region of the digital map indicated by theuser is preferably a continuous region, and not a discrete point orpoints. Thus, rather than merely selecting a single point on thedisplayed map, the user selects an extended region on the map.

The present invention also extends to a method of operating a navigationor mapping apparatus in accordance with the invention in any of itsaspects and embodiments.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided amethod of operating a navigation or mapping apparatus, the methodcomprising controlling the navigation or mapping apparatus to perform amethod including the steps of; accessing digital map data and using theaccessed digital map data to display a digital map on a display of theapparatus; receiving from a user via a user interface of the apparatus aselection of a region present in the displayed digital map, wherein theregion is selected by the user providing one or more indications on thedisplayed digital map, determining digital map data relating to theselected region, and carrying out one or more mapping or navigationoperations using the determined digital map data, wherein the selectedregion includes a region of the map to be included or avoided in a routeto be calculated, and wherein the method performed further comprisescalculating a route which includes or excludes at least a part of theselected region using the determined digital map data.

It will be appreciated that the invention in this further aspect maycomprise any or all of the features described in respect of theapparatus of the first aspect of the invention, and vice versa. Thus, ifnot explicitly stated, the method of operating the apparatus maycomprise the steps of controlling the apparatus to perform any of theoperations described in relation to the apparatus, and the apparatus ofthe invention may be arranged to carry out any of the method stepsherein described. In the method aspects of the invention, the navigationor mapping apparatus comprises a display for displaying a digital map toa user, a processor configured to access digital map data and cause adigital map to be displayed to a user via the display, and a userinterface operable by a user to enable the user to interact with theapparatus.

It will be appreciated that in accordance with the invention theprocessor is arranged to be able to calculate a route between firstlocation and a second location e.g. a start point and a destination. Aroute as referred to herein is a route between a first location and asecond location.

In accordance with the invention, the selected region may be indicatedvia the user interface in any manner which involves the user providingone or more indications on the displayed digital map. In embodiments theuser indicates the region by pointing to the region. This may beachieved by touch or by controlling a cursor as described below.

Each indication on the displayed digital map is an indication of aregion of the displayed digital map. In any of the embodiments of theinvention, the selected region may be indicated using a singleindication or a plurality of indications. Preferably each indicationprovided by the user is an indication of a continuous region of thedisplayed digital map. Where multiple indications are made, theindications may be made simultaneously or sequentially. The indicationsmay or may not overlap.

The selected region may directly correspond to the one or more regionsindicated by the user on the displayed digital map. In these embodimentsthe one or more indications provided by the user may define a shapecorresponding to the shape of an intended selected region. For example,where multiple indications are provided, the indications may togetherdefine a shape corresponding to the shape of an intended selectedregion. For example, a user draw a vertical line and, then a second lineperpendicular thereto, and overlapping the first line to select an Lshaped region.

In other embodiments, the processor may be arranged to infer an intendedselected region from the one or more indications made on the digital mapby the user. For example, the processor may be arranged to infer aprecise selected region from one or more regions indicated by a userapproximately indicative of an intended selected region. The step ofinferring a precise selected region may comprise inferring a preciseboundary for the selected region from the region(s) indicated by theuser. The processor may be arranged to, for example, infer a selectedregion including only land from a general indication of a region orregions provided by the user including both land and water.

In some embodiments the processor may be arranged to infer an intendedselected region including one or more regions indicated by the user.Thus the indicated region or regions may be a subset of an intendedselected region. For example, the user may indicate a region within agiven state, and the processor may then infer that the intended selectedregion is the whole state.

In accordance with any of the embodiments of the invention, theprocessor may be arranged to infer an intended selected region from oneor more indications in the form of gestures provided by the user.

It will be appreciated that the way in which the processor infers anintended selected region from one or more regions indicated by the usermay be controlled, for example, by setting a mode of operation of thedevice. The processor may be arranged to be able to infer an intendedselected region from one or more indicated regions in any of the abovemanners depending upon the selected mode.

In preferred embodiments the user interface is an interface by means ofwhich a user can operate the device by touch, i.e. a touch sensitiveinterface, and the user provides one or more touch indications to selectthe region. In some particularly preferred embodiments the displaycomprises the touch sensitive user interface, i.e. the display is atouch display. In these embodiments the user may select the region usingone or more indications in the form of touch gestures on the displayeddigital map. For example, the user may directly indicate a selectedregion by touching a part or parts of the display corresponding to theregion of the map to be selected. This may provide a more intuitiveoperation allowing the user to manually indicate the selected region.The user interface may be arranged to permit the user to select theregion using a single or multi touch gesture. In some embodiments theuser may indicate the selected region by drawing the selected region onto the map. In other embodiments the user may indicate the selectedregion by performing a multi touch gesture on the map, and the processoris arranged to infer the selected region from the multi touch gestureperformed by the user. Such embodiments may be particularly, althoughnot exclusively, applicable to navigation device type implementations ofthe apparatus.

It will be appreciated that other forms of user interface may be used.In some embodiments the user interface may be arranged to permit theuser to select the region of the map using one or more cursor basedindications. The user interface may then comprise an arrangement topermit the user to control the position of a cursor on the display. Thismay be achieved using any suitable user input device e.g. a mouse, touchpad, control stick or pad, a rotary control, key stroke etc. Althoughnot limited thereto, such embodiments may be useful in the context ofimplementations which do not use a specific portable navigation device,for example implementations using mapping software run on a generalcomputer system.

In some embodiments, regardless of the form of the user interface, theapparatus is arranged to enable the user to draw a shape on thedisplayed map defining the selected region.

The processor of the apparatus is arranged to access the digital mapdata. In some preferred embodiments the apparatus comprises a memorystoring digital map data, and the processor is arranged to retrieve thedigital map data from the store. However, it will be appreciated thatthe processor may retrieve the digital map data directly or indirectlyin any suitable manner. The digital map data may not be stored locally.For example the digital map data may be downloaded from a remote source.

The step of determining digital map data relating to the selected regionmay comprise determining the digital map data for one or more locationscomprised in the region of the map selected by the user. The determineddigital map data may include digital map data for locations encompassedby all or a part of the selected region. The digital map data may bedetermined in any manner, as described in relation to accessing thedigital map data for display. In embodiments the apparatus comprises amemory storing digital map data, and the step of determining the digitalmap data comprises retrieving the digital map data from the memory.

It will be appreciated that in accordance with the invention, theapparatus is arranged to determine digital map data relating to theregion of the map selected by the user, and to carry out a routecalculation operation using the data. Thus in contrast to merely, forexample, providing a display related function such as manipulation ofdisplay e.g. involving a panning or zooming of the display in relationto a region selected by a user, the apparatus is arranged to carry out afunction in relation to the underlying digital map data related to theselected region. The invention allows the user to interact with thedigital map data via the displayed digital map. In embodiments theprocessor is arranged to cause the calculated route to be displayed onthe digital map, and the method performed by the apparatus may comprisethe step of displaying the calculated route on the digital map.

The region may be selected before a route is proposed. Thus theselection of the region may form part of the process of planning aroute. In some embodiments the selected region is indicated on adisplayed digital map which does not already include a displayedcalculated route.

In other embodiments the processor is arranged to cause a proposed routeto be displayed on the digital map, and the selected region includes aregion of the map to be included or avoided in a modification of theproposed route. The processor may be arranged to first calculate theproposed route. However, the proposed route could be determined in anymanner. For example it could be retrieved from stored routes. The methodperformed may include the step of displaying a proposed route on thedigital map, and may further comprise the step of calculating theproposed route.

In these embodiments the route calculated using the determined digitalmap data is a modification of the proposed route which includes orexcludes at least part of the selected region. The processor may causethe modified route to be displayed, and the method performed maycomprise the step of displaying the modified route. The modified routemay be displayed simultaneously with the original proposed route. Thusin these embodiments the apparatus modifies a proposed route using thedetermined digital map data relating to the selected region. Theseembodiments are advantageous as the user may simply indicate a change toa proposed route without needing to go through a range of menu options.While in preferred embodiments the selected region is a continuousregion to be avoided/included in the modified route, in the broadestaspects of the invention the selected region could be a point locationsuch as an intermediate location, waypoint or start or destinationlocation. The point location could be a point location to beincluded/avoided in the sense of the route passing therethrough or inthe sense of a stop at the location being included or excluded in thecase of the route forming part of an itinerary. The invention is,however, particularly applicable to the case in which the user indicatesan extended or continuous geographic region to be included or excludedin the route.

The apparatus may determine a route which avoids or includes the wholeof the selected region, or at least a part thereof. The apparatus may bearranged to infer a particular location or part of a route contained inthe selected region to be avoided or included in the route. For example,a user may simply generally indicate a region including a town or roadjunction to be avoided or excluded, and the apparatus may infer that thetown or junction is the feature that the user wishes to avoid/include.In embodiments therefore, the apparatus may infer a location or part ofa route to be avoided or included from the region selected by the user.This may involve the processor searching for a significant map featureor stored specific location or route within the selected region. Thesignificant map feature may be a town, village or route etc. Storedspecific location data could include POI data, address book entries,favourite location data, business related location data, work locationdata, home location data, recently visited location data etc. Theprocessor may carry out such a search in any suitable manner, forexample taking into account user preferences or preset preferences, andmay search among different categories of stored location data inaccordance with certain criteria. For example, the apparatus may searchamong work locations at certain times of day when the user is expectedto be at work, or among leisure locations at weekends.

In accordance with any of its embodiemnts, the apparatus may determinewhether the route is to be modified to include or exclude the selectedregion in any manner. For example the user may be able to specify a govia or avoid mode prior to selecting the region. In other embodimentsthe apparatus may be arranged to infer a modification to the proposedroute from a shape and/or location of the selected region. If theselected region does not include a portion of the proposed route, theapparatus may infer that the user wishes to modify the proposed route togo via at least a part of the selected region, and may proposed amodified route going via at least a part of the selected region. If theselected region includes a portion of the proposed route, the apparatusmay infer that the user wishes to modify the proposed route to avoid atleast a part of the selected region, and may proposed a modified routeavoiding at least a part of the selected region.

Similar techniques may be used additionally to remove or add pointlocations such as an intermediate destination, waypoint or start ordestination location from a proposed route. In embodiments the processoris arranged to receive on the display a further indication from the userof a point location in the proposed route, wherein the point location isa location to be added or removed from the route, and to modify theproposed route to add or remove the location from the route. Thelocation may be a location the user does or does not wish the route togo via, and the route may be modified to go via or not go via thelocation. In other embodiments the route may be part of an itinerary,and the point location may be a stopping location.

In embodiments the apparatus is arranged such that when the selectedregion does not include a portion of the proposed route, the processoris arranged calculate a modified route going via at least a part of theselected region, and when the selected region includes a portion of theproposed route, the processor is arranged to calculate a modified routeavoiding at least a part of the selected region. The method performedmay comprise the steps of calculating a modified route going via atleast a part of the selected region when the selected region does notinclude a portion of the proposed route, and calculating a modifiedroute avoiding at least a part of the selected region when the selectedregion includes a portion of the proposed route. In these embodimentsthe processor may be further arranged to determine whether the selectedregion includes or does not include a portion of the proposed route, andthe method may comprise controlling the apparatus to carry out such astep.

In preferred embodiments of the invention in any of its aspects orembodiments, the processor is arranged to cause the selected region tobe illustrated on the displayed map, and the method performed comprisesthe step of illustrating the selected region on the displayed map. Thestep of illustrating the selected region may comprise highlighting theselected region. However, it will be appreciated the region couldalternatively be illustrated by erasing features of the displayed mapcorresponding to the selected region. For example a part of a proposedroute may be erased. The selected region on the map may be illustratedas it is selected by a user. This may provide a real time illustrationof the selected region to the user.

In accordance with the invention, the selected region indicated by theuser may be of any shape. In preferred embodiments the selected regionis a selected continuous region.

In preferred embodiments a selected continuous region is indicated e.g.drawn on to the displayed map in a manner indicative of the desiredchange to the proposed route. For example the user may indicate aselected continuous region wiping out a portion of a proposed route.Such a region may be in the form of a scribbled out part of the map. Inembodiments the user may indicate a selected continuous region in theform of an approximate path to be included in a modification of theroute. The shape of the selected region may be indicative of the desiredchange.

The selected region may be a region which the user wishes to go via oravoid for any reason in a route. By enabling a user to readily specify aregion to go via or avoid in this way, the user may more readilycustomise planned routes without specifying preferences in advance, orif, for some reason, they wish to depart from any preset preferences. Inthis way a more flexible system may be provided. For example, the usermay decide that they wish to go via a POI shown on the map display, orto avoid a major road. In some embodiments the processor is arranged toaccess and cause real time information relating to traffic to bedisplayed on the digital map, and the method comprises accessing andcausing such information to be displayed on the map. In theseembodiments, the region selected by the user may include a region oftraffic to be avoided in the calculated route. For example the regionmay be a region in which a traffic jam is indicated as being present.

Regardless as to whether the route is a modification of a proposedroute, or a new route, the apparatus may be arranged to calculate theroute as the user selects the region on the displayed map. Thus theapparatus may be arranged to perform an instantaneous calculation of aroute as the selected region to be avoided or included is selected bythe user. The apparatus may be arranged to display the calculated routeas the user selects the region.

It is envisaged that more than one selected region may be simultaneouslyselected and, optionally more than one route calculated. In someembodiments the selected region is a first selected region, and thecalculated route is a first route. The apparatus may then furtherreceive a selection of a second region, determine digital map datarelating to the second region, and calculate a route which includes orexcludes at least a part of the second selected region using thedetermined digital map data. The route may be a second route, althoughthe route could be the same route which also avoids/includes the firstselected region. The second region may be specified by one or moreindications provided by a user in the same manner as the first region.In embodiments the first region is selected by a first user, and thesecond region is selected by a second user. The regions may besimultaneously selected, and first and second routes simultaneouslycalculated. This may allow users to simultaneously modify or proposeroutes by interaction with the same map, providing the ability todiscuss route options as one might do with a paper map.

The principles of the present invention are applicable to any form ofmapping or navigation apparatus. In preferred embodiments the apparatusis a navigation apparatus. One particular area of utility is in relationto portable navigation devices (PND). In embodiments, therefore, themapping or navigation apparatus is an apparatus of a portable navigationdevice (PND). In accordance with a further aspect, the present inventionprovides a portable navigation device (PND) comprising the apparatus inaccordance with any of the aspects or embodiments of the inventiondescribed. Accordingly, in embodiments of the invention, the method is amethod of operating a mapping or navigation system of a portablenavigation device.

The invention is also applicable to navigation apparatus which isprovided as part of an integrated navigation system. For example theapparatus may form part of an in-vehicle integrated navigation system.In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the presentinvention provides a navigation system comprising a navigation apparatusin accordance with any of the aspects or embodiments of the inventiondescribed. Accordingly, in embodiments of the invention, the method is amethod of operating a navigation apparatus of a navigation system. Thenavigation system may be an integrated in-vehicle navigation system.

Regardless of its implementation, a navigation apparatus of the presentinvention may comprise a processor, memory, and digital map data storedwithin said memory. The processor and memory cooperate to provide anexecution environment in which a software operating system may beestablished. One or more additional software programs may be provided toenable the functionality of the apparatus to be controlled, and toprovide various other functions. A navigation apparatus of the inventionmay preferably include GPS (Global Positioning System) signal receptionand processing functionality. The apparatus may comprise one or moreoutput interfaces by means of which information may be relayed to theuser. The output interface(s) may include a speaker for audible outputin addition to the visual display. The apparatus may comprise inputinterfaces including one or more physical buttons to control on/offoperation or other features of the apparatus.

In other embodiments, the mapping or navigation apparatus may beimplemented by means of an application of a processing device which doesnot form part of a specific mapping or navigation device. For examplethe invention may be implemented using a suitable computer systemarranged to execute mapping or navigation software. The system may be amobile or portable computer system e.g. a mobile telephone or laptop, ormay be a desktop system.

References to the “indicated region” or the “selected region” hereinshould be understood to refer to the region indicated or selected by theuser on the displayed digital map if this is not explicitly stated.

References to the apparatus carrying out given steps may in general beunderstood as being steps carried out by, or under the influence, of theprocessor, unless the context demands otherwise.

The present invention extends to a computer program product comprisingcomputer readable instructions executable to perform a method accordingto any of the aspects or embodiments of the invention.

Advantages of these embodiments are set out hereafter, and furtherdetails and features of each of these embodiments are defined in theaccompanying dependent claims and elsewhere in the following detaileddescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of the teachings of the present invention, andarrangements embodying those teachings, will hereafter be described byway of illustrative example with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a Global Positioning System (GPS);

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of electronic components arranged toprovide a navigation device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the manner in which a navigationdevice may receive information over a wireless communication channel;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are illustrative perspective views of a navigationdevice;

FIGS. 5 a to 5 i are illustrative screenshots from a TomTom GO 950 LIVEPND for a destination input process;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an embodiment involving a PND calculating aroute using a selected region in the form of a path indicated on adisplayed map by the user, of which FIG. 6 illustrates the pathindicated by the user, and FIG. 7 illustrates the route calculated;

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate another embodiment in accordance with theinvention as claimed involving a PND modifying a calculated route toavoid a selected region indicated on a displayed map by a user, of whichFIG. 8 illustrates the way in which the user selects the region to beavoided, and FIG. 9 illustrates the modified route;

FIGS. 10 to 12 illustrate further embodiments involving setting aselected region in response to an indication on the displayed map by auser of which;

FIG. 10 illustrates the setting of a selected region using a multi touchgesture, and FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate a method of setting a selectedregion in which the user sets a center point for the region as shown inFIG. 11 and the PND provides a boundary of increasing radius to enablethe user to set a selected area of desired size as shown in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith particular reference to a PND. It should be remembered, however,that the teachings of the present invention are not limited to PNDs butare instead universally applicable to any type of processing device thatis configured to execute navigation software so as to provide routeplanning and navigation functionality. It follows therefore that in thecontext of the present application, a navigation device is intended toinclude (without limitation) any type of route planning and navigationdevice, irrespective of whether that device is embodied as a PND, anavigation device built into a vehicle, or indeed a computing resource(such as a desktop or portable personal computer (PC), mobile telephoneor portable digital assistant (PDA)) executing route planning andnavigation software.

It will also be apparent from the following that the teachings of thepresent invention even have utility in circumstances where a user is notseeking instructions on how to navigate from one point to another, butmerely wishes to be provided with a view of a given location. In suchcircumstances the “destination” location selected by the user need nothave a corresponding start location from which the user wishes to startnavigating, and as a consequence references herein to the “destination”location or indeed to a “destination” view should not be interpreted tomean that the generation of a route is essential, that travelling to the“destination” must occur, or indeed that the presence of a destinationrequires the designation of a corresponding start location.

With the above provisos in mind, FIG. 1 illustrates an example view ofGlobal Positioning System (GPS), usable by navigation devices. Suchsystems are known and are used for a variety of purposes. In general,GPS is a satellite-radio based navigation system capable of determiningcontinuous position, velocity, time, and in some instances directioninformation for an unlimited number of users. Formerly known as NAVSTAR,the GPS incorporates a plurality of satellites which orbit the earth inextremely precise orbits. Based on these precise orbits, GPS satellitescan relay their location to any number of receiving units.

The GPS system is implemented when a device, specially equipped toreceive GPS data, begins scanning radio frequencies for GPS satellitesignals. Upon receiving a radio signal from a GPS satellite, the devicedetermines the precise location of that satellite via one of a pluralityof different conventional methods. The device will continue scanning, inmost instances, for signals until it has acquired at least threedifferent satellite signals (noting that position is not normally, butcan be determined, with only two signals using other triangulationtechniques). Implementing geometric triangulation, the receiver utilizesthe three known positions to determine its own two-dimensional positionrelative to the satellites. This can be done in a known manner.Additionally, acquiring a fourth satellite signal will allow thereceiving device to calculate its three dimensional position by the samegeometrical calculation in a known manner. The position and velocitydata can be updated in real time on a continuous basis by an unlimitednumber of users.

As shown in FIG. 1, the GPS system is denoted generally by referencenumeral 100. A plurality of satellites 120 are in orbit about the earth124. The orbit of each satellite 120 is not necessarily synchronous withthe orbits of other satellites 120 and, in fact, is likely asynchronous.A GPS receiver 140 is shown receiving spread spectrum GPS satellitesignals 160 from the various satellites 120.

The spread spectrum signals 160, continuously transmitted from eachsatellite 120, utilize a highly accurate frequency standard accomplishedwith an extremely accurate atomic clock. Each satellite 120, as part ofits data signal transmission 160, transmits a data stream indicative ofthat particular satellite 120. It is appreciated by those skilled in therelevant art that the GPS receiver device 140 generally acquires spreadspectrum GPS satellite signals 160 from at least three satellites 120for the GPS receiver device 140 to calculate its two-dimensionalposition by triangulation. Acquisition of an additional signal,resulting in signals 160 from a total of four satellites 120, permitsthe GPS receiver device 140 to calculate its three-dimensional positionin a known manner.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative representation of electronic components of anavigation device 200 according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, in block component format. It should be noted that the blockdiagram of the navigation device 200 is not inclusive of all componentsof the navigation device, but is only representative of many examplecomponents.

The navigation device 200 is located within a housing (not shown). Thehousing includes a processor 210 connected to an input device 220 and adisplay screen 240. The input device 220 can include a keyboard device,voice input device, touch panel and/or any other known input deviceutilised to input information; and the display screen 240 can includeany type of display screen such as an LCD display, for example. In aparticularly preferred arrangement the input device 220 and displayscreen 240 are integrated into an integrated input and display device,including a touchpad or touchscreen input so that a user need only toucha portion of the display screen 240 to select one of a plurality ofdisplay choices or to activate one of a plurality of virtual buttons.

The navigation device may include an output device 260, for example anaudible output device (e.g. a loudspeaker). As output device 260 canproduce audible information for a user of the navigation device 200, itis should equally be understood that input device 240 can include amicrophone and software for receiving input voice commands as well.

In the navigation device 200, processor 210 is operatively connected toand set to receive input information from input device 220 via aconnection 225, and operatively connected to at least one of displayscreen 240 and output device 260, via output connections 245, to outputinformation thereto. Further, the processor 210 is operably coupled to amemory resource 230 via connection 235 and is further adapted toreceive/send information from/to input/output (I/O) ports 270 viaconnection 275, wherein the I/O port 270 is connectible to an I/O device280 external to the navigation device 200. The memory resource 230comprises, for example, a volatile memory, such as a Random AccessMemory (RAM) and a non-volatile memory, for example a digital memory,such as a flash memory. The external I/O device 280 may include, but isnot limited to an external listening device such as an earpiece forexample. The connection to I/O device 280 can further be a wired orwireless connection to any other external device such as a car stereounit for hands-free operation and/or for voice activated operation forexample, for connection to an ear piece or head phones, and/or forconnection to a mobile phone for example, wherein the mobile phoneconnection may be used to establish a data connection between thenavigation device 200 and the internet or any other network for example,and/or to establish a connection to a server via the internet or someother network for example.

FIG. 2 further illustrates an operative connection between the processor210 and an antenna/receiver 250 via connection 255, wherein theantenna/receiver 250 can be a GPS antenna/receiver for example. It willbe understood that the antenna and receiver designated by referencenumeral 250 are combined schematically for illustration, but that theantenna and receiver may be separately located components, and that theantenna may be a GPS patch antenna or helical antenna for example.

Further, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art thatthe electronic components shown in FIG. 2 are powered by power sources(not shown) in a conventional manner. As will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art, different configurations of the componentsshown in FIG. 2 are considered to be within the scope of the presentapplication. For example, the components shown in FIG. 2 may be incommunication with one another via wired and/or wireless connections andthe like. Thus, the scope of the navigation device 200 of the presentapplication includes a portable or handheld navigation device 200.

In addition, the portable or handheld navigation device 200 of FIG. 2can be connected or “docked” in a known manner to a vehicle such as abicycle, a motorbike, a car or a boat for example. Such a navigationdevice 200 is then removable from the docked location for portable orhandheld navigation use.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the navigation device 200 may establish a“mobile” or telecommunications network connection with a server 302 viaa mobile device (not shown) (such as a mobile phone, PDA, and/or anydevice with mobile phone technology) establishing a digital connection(such as a digital connection via known Bluetooth technology forexample). Thereafter, through its network service provider, the mobiledevice can establish a network connection (through the internet forexample) with a server 302. As such, a “mobile” network connection isestablished between the navigation device 200 (which can be, and oftentimes is mobile as it travels alone and/or in a vehicle) and the server302 to provide a “real-time” or at least very “up to date” gateway forinformation.

The establishing of the network connection between the mobile device(via a service provider) and another device such as the server 302,using an internet (such as the World Wide Web) for example, can be donein a known manner. This can include use of TCP/IP layered protocol forexample. The mobile device can utilize any number of communicationstandards such as CDMA, GSM, WAN, etc.

As such, an internet connection may be utilised which is achieved viadata connection, via a mobile phone or mobile phone technology withinthe navigation device 200 for example. For this connection, an internetconnection between the server 302 and the navigation device 200 isestablished. This can be done, for example, through a mobile phone orother mobile device and a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)-connection(GPRS connection is a high-speed data connection for mobile devicesprovided by telecom operators; GPRS is a method to connect to theinternet).

The navigation device 200 can further complete a data connection withthe mobile device, and eventually with the internet and server 302, viaexisting Bluetooth technology for example, in a known manner, whereinthe data protocol can utilize any number of standards, such as the GPRS,the Data Protocol Standard for the GSM standard, for example.

The navigation device 200 may include its own mobile phone technologywithin the navigation device 200 itself (including an antenna forexample, or optionally using the internal antenna of the navigationdevice 200). The mobile phone technology within the navigation device200 can include internal components as specified above, and/or caninclude an insertable card (e.g. Subscriber Identity Module or SIMcard), complete with necessary mobile phone technology and/or an antennafor example. As such, mobile phone technology within the navigationdevice 200 can similarly establish a network connection between thenavigation device 200 and the server 302, via the internet for example,in a manner similar to that of any mobile device.

For GPRS phone settings, a Bluetooth enabled navigation device may beused to correctly work with the ever changing spectrum of mobile phonemodels, manufacturers, etc., model/manufacturer specific settings may bestored on the navigation device 200 for example. The data stored forthis information can be updated.

In FIG. 3 the navigation device 200 is depicted as being incommunication with the server 302 via a generic communications channel318 that can be implemented by any of a number of differentarrangements. The server 302 and a navigation device 200 can communicatewhen a connection via communications channel 318 is established betweenthe server 302 and the navigation device 200 (noting that such aconnection can be a data connection via mobile device, a directconnection via personal computer via the internet, etc.).

The server 302 includes, in addition to other components which may notbe illustrated, a processor 304 operatively connected to a memory 306and further operatively connected, via a wired or wireless connection314, to a mass data storage device 312. The processor 304 is furtheroperatively connected to transmitter 308 and receiver 310, to transmitand send information to and from navigation device 200 viacommunications channel 318. The signals sent and received may includedata, communication, and/or other propagated signals. The transmitter308 and receiver 310 may be selected or designed according to thecommunications requirement and communication technology used in thecommunication design for the navigation system 200. Further, it shouldbe noted that the functions of transmitter 308 and receiver 310 may becombined into a signal transceiver.

Server 302 is further connected to (or includes) a mass storage device312, noting that the mass storage device 312 may be coupled to theserver 302 via communication link 314. The mass storage device 312contains a store of navigation data and map information, and can againbe a separate device from the server 302 or can be incorporated into theserver 302.

The navigation device 200 is adapted to communicate with the server 302through communications channel 318, and includes processor, memory, etc.as previously described with regard to FIG. 2, as well as transmitter320 and receiver 322 to send and receive signals and/or data through thecommunications channel 318, noting that these devices can further beused to communicate with devices other than server 302. Further, thetransmitter 320 and receiver 322 are selected or designed according tocommunication requirements and communication technology used in thecommunication design for the navigation device 200 and the functions ofthe transmitter 320 and receiver 322 may be combined into a singletransceiver.

Software stored in server memory 306 provides instructions for theprocessor 304 and allows the server 302 to provide services to thenavigation device 200. One service provided by the server 302 involvesprocessing requests from the navigation device 200 and transmittingnavigation data from the mass data storage 312 to the navigation device200. Another service provided by the server 302 includes processing thenavigation data using various algorithms for a desired application andsending the results of these calculations to the navigation device 200.

The communication channel 318 generically represents the propagatingmedium or path that connects the navigation device 200 and the server302. Both the server 302 and navigation device 200 include a transmitterfor transmitting data through the communication channel and a receiverfor receiving data that has been transmitted through the communicationchannel.

The communication channel 318 is not limited to a particularcommunication technology. Additionally, the communication channel 318 isnot limited to a single communication technology; that is, the channel318 may include several communication links that use a variety oftechnology. For example, the communication channel 318 can be adapted toprovide a path for electrical, optical, and/or electromagneticcommunications, etc. As such, the communication channel 318 includes,but is not limited to, one or a combination of the following: electriccircuits, electrical conductors such as wires and coaxial cables, fibreoptic cables, converters, radio-frequency (RF) waves, the atmosphere,empty space, etc. Furthermore, the communication channel 318 can includeintermediate devices such as routers, repeaters, buffers, transmitters,and receivers, for example.

In one illustrative arrangement, the communication channel 318 includestelephone and computer networks. Furthermore, the communication channel318 may be capable of accommodating wireless communication such as radiofrequency, microwave frequency, infrared communication, etc.Additionally, the communication channel 318 can accommodate satellitecommunication.

The communication signals transmitted through the communication channel318 include, but are not limited to, signals as may be required ordesired for given communication technology. For example, the signals maybe adapted to be used in cellular communication technology such as TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access(FDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), etc. Both digital and analogue signals can betransmitted through the communication channel 318. These signals may bemodulated, encrypted and/or compressed signals as may be desirable forthe communication technology.

The server 302 includes a remote server accessible by the navigationdevice 200 via a wireless channel. The server 302 may include a networkserver located on a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),virtual private network (VPN), etc.

The server 302 may include a personal computer such as a desktop orlaptop computer, and the communication channel 318 may be a cableconnected between the personal computer and the navigation device 200.Alternatively, a personal computer may be connected between thenavigation device 200 and the server 302 to establish an internetconnection between the server 302 and the navigation device 200.Alternatively, a mobile telephone or other handheld device may establisha wireless connection to the internet, for connecting the navigationdevice 200 to the server 302 via the internet.

The navigation device 200 may be provided with information from theserver 302 via information downloads which may be periodically updatedautomatically or upon a user connecting navigation device 200 to theserver 302 and/or may be more dynamic upon a more constant or frequentconnection being made between the server 302 and navigation device 200via a wireless mobile connection device and TCP/IP connection forexample. For many dynamic calculations, the processor 304 in the server302 may be used to handle the bulk of the processing needs, however,processor 210 of navigation device 200 can also handle much processingand calculation, oftentimes independent of a connection to a server 302.

As indicated above in FIG. 2, a navigation device 200 includes aprocessor 210, an input device 220, and a display screen 240. The inputdevice 220 and display screen 240 are integrated into an integratedinput and display device to enable both input of information (via directinput, menu selection, etc.) and display of information through a touchpanel screen, for example. Such a screen may be a touch input LCDscreen, for example, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in theart. Further, the navigation device 200 can also include any additionalinput device 220 and/or any additional output device 241, such as audioinput/output devices for example.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are perspective views of a navigation device 200. Asshown in FIG. 4A, the navigation device 200 may be a unit that includesan integrated input and display device 290 (a touch panel screen forexample) and the other components of FIG. 2 (including but not limitedto internal GPS receiver 250, microprocessor 210, a power supply, memorysystems 230, etc.).

The navigation device 200 may sit on an arm 292, which itself may besecured to a vehicle dashboard/window/etc. using a suction cup 294. Thisarm 292 is one example of a docking station to which the navigationdevice 200 can be docked.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the navigation device 200 can be docked orotherwise connected to an arm 292 of the docking station by snapconnecting the navigation device 292 to the arm 292 for example. Thenavigation device 200 may then be rotatable on the arm 292, as shown bythe arrow of FIG. 4B. To release the connection between the navigationdevice 200 and the docking station, a button on the navigation device200 may be pressed, for example. Other equally suitable arrangements forcoupling and decoupling the navigation device to a docking station arewell known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 a-i there is depicted a series of screenshotsfrom a TomTom GO 950 LIVE navigation device. This model of TomTom PNDhas a touchscreen interface for displaying information to a user and foraccepting input to the device from the user. The screenshots show anillustrative destination location input process for a user whose homelocation has been set to the offices in The Hague of the European PatentOffice, and who wishes to navigate to a street address in Amsterdam, TheNetherlands for which they know the street name and building number.

When this user switches on their TomTom PND, the device acquires a GPSfix and calculates (in a known manner) the current location of the PND.The user is then presented with a display showing in pseudothree-dimensions the local environment in which the PND is determined tobe located, and in a region of the display below the local environment aseries of control and status messages.

By touching the display of the local environment, the PND switches todisplay (as shown in FIG. 5 a) a series of virtual buttons 346, 348 bymeans of which a user can, inter alia, input a destination that theywish to navigate to.

By touching the “navigate to” virtual button 348, the PND switches todisplay (as shown in FIG. 5 b) a plurality of virtual buttons that areeach associated with a different category of selectable destinations. Inthis instance, the display shows a “home” button that if pressed wouldset the destination to the stored home location. However, in thisinstance as the user is already at their home location (namely the EPO'soffices in the Hague) selecting this option would not cause a route tobe generated. The “favourite” button, if pressed, reveals a list ofdestinations that the user has previously stored in the PND and if oneof these destinations is then selected the destination for the route tobe calculated is set to the selected previously stored destination. The“recent destination” button, if pressed, reveals a list of selectabledestinations held in the memory of the PND and to which the user hasrecently navigated. Selection of one of the destinations populating thislist would set the destination location for this route to the selected(previously visited) location. The “local search” button, if pressed,allows the user to carry out a search for given items e.g. shops,services etc in the local area, or an area local to a given destination,using the Google local search service. The “arrow” shaped virtual buttonopens a new menu of additional options, and the “address” button 350commences a process by which the user can input the street address ofthe destination that they wish to navigate to.

Since the user, in this example, knows the street address of thedestination that they wish to navigate to, it is assumed that this“address” button is operated (by touching the button displayed on thetouchscreen), whereupon (as shown in FIG. 5 c) the user is presentedwith a series of address input options—in particular for address inputby “city centre”, by “postcode”, by “crossing or intersection” (forexample a junction of two roads) and by “street and house number”.

In this example the user knows the street address and house number ofthe destination and hence selects the “street and house number” virtualbutton 352 whereupon the user is then presented, as shown in FIG. 5 d, aprompt 354 to enter the name of the city that they wish to navigate to,a flag button 356 by means of which the user can select the country inwhich the desired city is located, and a virtual keyboard 358 that maybe operated by the user, if necessary, to input the name of thedestination city. The PND therefore additionally provides the user witha list 360 of selectable cites.

The user in this instance wishes to navigate to Amsterdam, and onselection of Amsterdam from the list 360 (involving scrolling throughthe list from the “R” entries) the PND displays, as shown in FIG. 5 e, avirtual keyboard 362 by means of which a user can input street names, aprompt 366 for entry of a streetname and, in this instance, as the userhas previously navigated to a street in Amsterdam, a list 364 ofselectable streets in Amsterdam.

In this example the user wishes to navigate to the street,Rembrandtplein, that they have previously visited and so selectsRembrandtplein from the displayed list 364.

Once a street has been selected, the PND then displays a smaller virtualkeypad 368 and prompts the user, by means of prompt 370, to enter thenumber of the house in the selected street and city that they wish tonavigate to. If the user has previously navigated to a house number inthis street, then that number (as shown in FIG. 5 f) is initially shown.If, as in this instance, the user wishes to navigate to No. 35,Rembrandtplein once again, then the user need only touch a “done”virtual button 372 displayed at the bottom right hand corner of thedisplay. If the user should wish to navigate to a different house numberin Rembrandtplein, then all they need do is operate the keypad 368 toinput the appropriate house number.

Once the house number has been input, the user is asked in FIG. 5 g,whether they wish to depart, now, at a specific date and time or at nospecific date and time. In this instance the user is not concerned aboutleaving at a particular time and hence selects the “no specific date andtime” option and presses the “done” virtual button 374.

Selecting the “done” button 374 causes the PND to display a further setof virtual buttons as shown in FIG. 5 h offering options as to the typeof route the user wishes to calculate, for example the fastest route, aneco route, the shortest route, a route avoiding motorways, a walkingroute, or further options accessed by pressing the arrow shaped virtualbutton. In this case, the user selects the fastest route using button376. This causes the PND to calculate a route between the currentlocation and the selected destination and to display that route 378, asshown in FIG. 5 i, on a relatively low magnification map that shows theentire route. The user provided with a “done” virtual button 380 whichthey can press to indicate that they are happy with the calculatedroute, a “find alternative” button 382 that the user can press to causethe PND to calculate another route to the selected destination, and a“details” button 384 that a user can press to reveal selectable optionsfor the display of more detailed information concerning the currentlydisplayed route 378. The display includes a summary tab 390 providing asummary of the route information, and a further traffic tab 392 whichthe user may select to view detailed live traffic information for theroute.

Some embodiments will now be described by reference to FIGS. 6-12. FIGS.8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment in accordance with the invention asclaimed.

A first embodiment will be described by reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Thisembodiment is concerned with a method by which a user may select a pathindicative of a route to be calculated. FIG. 6 is a schematicrepresentation of a display of a region of a map 400 in which region theuser desires to calculate a route in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. The user will navigate to a display of a map region ofinterest such as that shown in FIG. 6 by a conventional operation. Thedisplay 400 includes a number virtual buttons including an “Options”button 410, a “Find” button 412, a “Panning” button 414 and a “Done”button 416. The find and panning buttons may be used to help the usernavigate to the relevant area of the map for indicating a route. The mapalso includes a zoom control bar 418.

In the illustrated example, the displayed area of the map 400 includesthe user's home location which indicated by the home icon 402. The userwishes to calculate a route between the home location 402 and a worklocation 404 indicated by the star symbol generally north east of thehome location. In this example the user's home location is in Utrechtand the user's work location is in Amsterdam.

Rather than selecting the start point as being the home address, andinputting a destination in the manner described above in relation toFIGS. 5A-i via a series of menus, in this case the user simply drawstheir finger in the direction of the arrow 406 over the displayed map ina gesture generally indicative of the path of the route to becalculated. As the user performs this gesture, the selected path ishighlighted on the display to provide the arrow 406 marked on thedisplay 400. The processor determines from the direction in which theuser traced the path on the display the desired direction of travel. Inthe embodiment illustrated this is indicated with the arrowhead.

When the user has drawn the desired path on the display they may pressthe “Done” button 416 so that the device proceeds to carry out a routecalculation based on the schematically indicated path. The PND thendetermines the start point and destination for the schematic routeindicated by the user. In this case, the PND recognises that theindicated start point is in the vicinity of the user's home address, andtherefore selects the start point as the home address. The PNDdetermines that the schematically indicated destination is in thevicinity of the user's work address, and therefore determines that thework address is the intended destination.

As shown in FIG. 7, the device then proceeds to calculate a routebetween the home and work addresses of the user, displaying the route408 on the map display 400 in the same manner as when a route isselected using the conventional method described in FIGS. 5A-i. The PNDretrieves digital map data for at least part of the region of the mapincluded in the schematically indicated path 406 and uses the digitalmap data to determine a route.

It will be appreciated that in this instance the user only had to drawtheir finger over the display in order for the PND to infer the desiredroute to be calculated and present a calculated route, and did not haveto go through a sequence of menu options to select the start point,destination and route options using speech or text based commands asillustrated by reference to the conventional method of FIGS. 5 a-i. Thenecessary information may be inferred by the system from the path drawnby the user.

Alternatively, rather than waiting until the path has been drawn on tothe displayed map, the PND may be arranged to calculate the route and/orsearch for a start point or destination continuously while the user isselecting the path. TomTom's “Instant Routing”™ software enables routesto be instantaneously calculated, and could be used to implement such anembodiment. This would allow for visualizing route options and/ordetermining or matching to locations while the user is still interactingwith the displayed map. The user may then be able to make “on the fly”corrections to the route or path.

Regardless of when route calculation is performed, the PND may determinethe detailed route, including the start point and end point from theschematic indication by the user in any one of a number of manners. ThePND may be arranged to compare the schematically indicated start anddestination points to stored locations, such as stored favourites,recently visited locations, home/work address, frequently visitedlocations, business locations, address book entries, leisure locationsetc. The user may be able to set preferences as to how the PND willdetermine the detailed route. For example they may set that the PNDshould search first among favourites destinations when determining thedetailed destination from the schematic destination, or alternativelyamong recently visited destinations. Another approach would be for thePND to match the start point and destination to significant map featurese.g. towns, villages. This would avoid the need to take into accountstored location information, and could provide a default in the eventthat no such stored information had been set, or if the user had not setpreferences as to which categories of stored information should takeprecedence.

The PND may take into account the time of day or week when performingthe search, and may search among different categories depending upon thetime of day or week. The time may be the current time, or a timespecified by the user e.g. when they plan to travel the route. Forexample, at a given time when the user is typically at work, e.g.weekday mornings, the PND may first search among stored work locations,while at weekends, the PND may search first among leisure locations. Adifferent start point may then be determined for the same routedepending upon the time of the day or week. Such time preferences may beset by the user depending upon their usual habits, working patterns etc.Other conditions which may be taken into account when searching forlocations may include weather, or a user's previous actions, e.g. aderived user profile which may be derived by the PND from e.g.historical visiting profiles, or set by a user via their website etc.

In the event that the PND finds more than one possible option for thestart point or destination, or simply to confirm the selection, the usermay be presented with a menu of options from which to select, with themost likely, or preferred type of start point/destination e.g. afavourite at the top of the list. This may proceed in a similar mannerto suggesting destinations using conventional systems, which mayproposed recently visited destinations or favourite destinations fromwhich the user may make a selection. Alternatively, to minimise theinputs required from the user, the PND may simply present the user witha calculated route based on its inferences in accordance with presetpreferences, or most likely destination/start point inferred from theschematic indication.

The system may calculate the detailed route between the start point anddestination once established according to preset preferences in the samemanner as when the start point and destination of a route areconventionally indicated in the manner described with respect to FIGS. 5a-i. For example the PND may take into account preset preferences suchas the user's desire to calculate the fastest route or a walking route.These may have been preset or could be set in response to a further menudisplayed by the device prior to calculation of the route.

In exemplary embodiments the PND may additionally match theschematically illustrated route between the start point and destination,or parts thereof, to nearby significant map features such as majorroads, or to stored locations or sections of route, such as a recentlytravelled sections of road, or a frequently travelled section of road,and use such points or stretches of route in the route calculation. Inother words, rather than simply inferring into account the start point,destination and direction of travel from the schematically indicatedpath, and calculating a route in accordance with conventionaltechniques, the PND may additionally infer at least parts of thedetailed route between the start point and destination from the pathdrawn by the user. In this way, the PND may calculate a detailed routelikely to accord with the user's intention, without the user needing tomake further selections. This may be carried out in a similar manner tothe matching of destination and start point locations. This may becarried out in a similar manner to when a start point and/or destinationare determined as discussed above, and may involve taking into account atime to determine how to search for routes, or via points.

It is envisaged that if the user wanted to cancel or restart the routeafter starting to draw it on the display, they could do so using adifferent type of gesture which would be recognised by the PND. Forexample the device may be arranged to recognise a further wipinggesture, or a discontinuity in the path as indicative that the userwanted to start again.

Rather than just proposing a route as shown in FIG. 7, the device maycalculate a detailed itinerary from the schematically indicated path,providing a route which goes via certain intermediate destinations orvia points in a given order. This may involve matching the route tonearby map features or stored locations/routes in a similar manner tothat described above in relation to the route calculation. The systemmay use route planning settings, and/or user preferences to infer anitinerary. The PND may infer intermediate destinations or via pointsfrom preset user preferences. For example the user may predefine thatthey wished to carry out a business trip, and the via point ordestinations may be selected from stored contacts or favourites labelledas “Business Contacts” which are found to be near to the determinedroute. Alternatively the user may define that the itinerary is inrelation to a “Leisure Trip”, and the PND may search among favourites orstored locations which are marked “Leisure”, or are point of interest(POI) locations. Point of interest categories might include restaurants,playgrounds, castles, etc. The time of day or week may be taken intoaccount when performing the search. Alternatively, e.g. if the user hasnot set any preferences, the PND may take nearby significant mapfeatures such as towns or villages closest to the indicated path as viapoints or intermediate destinations in this itinerary.

It is envisaged that multiple users could simultaneously interact with adisplayed digital map in the manner described by reference to FIGS. 6and 7 to each draw a path on to the displayed map indicative of a routeto be calculated. The PND may then simultaneously calculate and displaythe routes, enabling the users to discuss route options as they mightconventionally using a large paper map.

Although the embodiments above have been described in relation tosearching among stored location or route data, it is envisaged thatsearching may be carried out among any specified location or route dataaccessed by the apparatus in any manner e g. among inferred ordownloaded specified location or route data etc. Stored specifiedlocation data may be stored by the memory of the apparatus or remotelytherefrom.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment in which a route has already beencalculated and displayed on the map for the user to review. The routemay have been calculated in the conventional manner, or may have beencalculated on the basis of a path schematically indicated by the userusing a method as described by reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In thisinstance the user wishes to modify the route so that it does not go viaa particular town.

The detailed route calculated 420 is highlighted on the map as shown inFIG. 8. The display includes a number of virtual buttons including onebutton 422 denoted “Options”. The user may enter the alternative routesetting screen by selecting the “Options” button 422 when the detailedroute is displayed as shown in FIG. 8. This may bring up certain optionsincluding calculating an alternative route, which may then enablefunctionality to allow the user to indicate the desired change.Alternatively the user may be able to directly modify the indicateddesired modification when the detailed route is displayed as shown inFIG. 7 without needing to go through any further menu system.

In order to inform the system that they wish to eliminate part of theroute, the user performs a wiping type motion on part of the displayeddetailed route 420. A wiped area 440 is displayed on the detailed route420 corresponding to the user's indication. Once the user removes theirfinger from the screen, or in some cases, after pressing the “done”button 442, the PND then calculates an alternative route avoiding theindicated area. FIG. 9 illustrates the alternative route. Thisalternative route is marked as the path 450 in FIG. 9 alongside theoriginal unmodified route 420. The PDA may display information about thealternative route, or a comparison of it to the original route in asimilar manner to when a user invokes alternative route calculatingfunctionality using conventional methods. For example, the system mayprovide details regarding the length or travel time of the alternativeroute in comparison to the original route, or the traffic levels on thealternative route. Thus it will be seen that the user was able toreadily specify a change to the proposed route by directly indicating anarea to be avoided on the displayed map, rather than going through menuoptions to specify the locations to be avoided after selecting acalculate alternative route option in a conventional manner. The systemdetermines the digital map data corresponding to the indicated region toenable the modified route to be calculated. The apparatus may bearranged to infer a particular location or route to be avoided from theselected region indicated by a user in a similar manner to theembodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7 above, e.g. by searching for storedlocations or significant map features located in the selected region.The search may take into account heuristic factors, e.g. a time of dayin order to infer a location or feature to be included or avoided.

The part of the route to be avoided could be a part of the route theuser wishes to avoid for any reason. The user may wish to override aroute suggested on the basis of preset preferences. If the PND hasdisplayed traffic information relating to the route, as would be thecase for the GO 950 LIVE device, the area may be an area the user hasdecided to avoid as it is shown to have high levels of traffic.

If the user instead wished to modify the originally calculated route togo via a particular destination, the user could swipe their finger overthe desired area to be included in the route in a similar manner to theway in which a part of the route was deleted in FIG. 8. The system maythen calculate an alternative route in a similar manner. The system maydetermine that the indicated region is to be included or excludeddepending upon whether it includes a part of the original route, or fromthe gesture used by the user to indicate the region. Rather thanperforming a wiping action, the user could instead draw an shape or lineto indicate a region to be avoided or included in a route.

The route may be modified as the user selects the region to be includedor excluded using an instantaneous route calculation algorithm asdiscussed above. Likewise, it is envisaged that multiple users maysimultaneously select regions to be included or excluded in routes to becalculated or by way of modification of proposed routes, enabling thedigital map to be used similarly to a paper map, as a tool to discusspossible route options.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the user is shown as modifyingan already calculated route. However, the same process could be usedwhen initially setting a route, with the user indicating areas to beincluded or avoided in the route using similar gestures. Such anembodiment could be used if the user only wishes to exclude or includecertain locations rather than indicating the entirety of the route asillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. For example, the user may already haveindicated a start point and destination in a conventional manner, or byusing gestures as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The PND may then invite theuser to indicate areas to be included or avoided in the detailed routeto be calculated before proceeding with a route calculation according toexisting settings.

A similar approach may be used for the user to remove or avoidparticular point locations such as intermediate destinations, way pointsor start or destination locations in a proposed route. The user may thenindicate a location to be included or excluded by a manual gesturedirectly upon the displayed map. This may be carried out on a magnifiedview of the map.

Another embodiment is shown by reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 12. In thisembodiment, the PND is arranged to allow a user to indicate a selectedportion of a displayed map using a touch based gesture. The map detailsare not shown in FIG. 10 for ease of illustration. FIG. 10 illustratesan embodiment in which the PND is arranged to receive a multi touchgesture based indication on the display, and infer a selected regiontherefrom. In the FIG. 10 embodiment the user touches a portion of thedisplay using two fingers to provide pinch points 502 in a multi-touchgesture. As the user performs this gesture, the PDA determines aboundary 503 having a circumference passing through the pinch points.The boundary 503 encloses certain points denoted as dark stars 504. Theboundary 503 excludes a further point 506, denoted by the light starlying outside the boundary 503. In this way, the boundary 503 defines asearch area 505 of included points. The PND may thus determine whichdigital map data for the displayed corresponds to the region enclosed bythe boundary 503. The boundary 503 and the area enclosed thereby definesa selected region in respect of which operations may be carried out. Theboundary identifies a subset of the digital map data and/or navigationdata associated with the map of interest to the user.

The multi touch gesture embodiment of FIG. 10 is only one example of theway in which a user may indicate a selected region of a displayed map.In FIG. 11 an alternative approach is used. Here the user presses theirfinger against the display screen. This causes a boundary 600 in theform of a circle to appear on the map centered about the point ofcontact. As the user keep their finger pressed on the display the circleincreases in radius to the size shown in FIG. 12. The growth of theradius may be in response to the duration that the user keeps theirfinger pressed against the display, or the amount of pressure applied.The circle grows until such time as the user removes their finger fromthe display, indicating that the desired selected region bounded by theboundary 600 has been set. The selected region is highlighted on thedisplay.

There are numerous other ways in which the user might define such aboundary defining a selected region and hence a set of included andexcluded points in the displayed map. Rather than using a multi touchgesture, the user could draw a shape covering the desired selectedregion on the displayed map, or a line indicative of the boundary of thedesired selected region. Such a line could be in the shape of a lasso.In other arrangements, the PND may present the user with a manipulableboundary to enable them to set the selected area. For example the usermay be able to drag or resize the boundary etc.

In embodiments in which the PND presents the user with a boundary, theuser may first specify that they wish to enter a boundary setting modeusing an initial input, and then may be presented with the boundary e.g.to manipulate or whose size is to be set in a second operation. Theinitial input may be used to set the centre point of the boundarypresented to the user.

The functionality of FIGS. 10-12 may be invoked at any point where aselected region is to be set. The user may first need to select orconfirm that they wish to enter a selected region setting mode.

The embodiments of FIGS. 10 to 12 may be of use where the user wishes tospecify a selected region of the map for any reason. Once the selectedregion has been set the PND may carry out any of a number of operations.The operations may use digital map data relating to the selected region.For example, in one arrangement, the selected region of the map may be aregion which the user wishes to search for points of interest, orselected points of interest categories. The PND may carry out a searchof the area for POIs in general, or specified categories thereof, anddisplay the results on the map. The PND may display only POIs belongingonly to certain recently used POI categories, or may employ heuristicsto determine which POI categories to display, for example, based on timeof day, destination chosen, whether the device is in a leisure orbusiness mode etc. Searches may be carried out in respect of any of arange of items, including objects or persons. For example the user maywish to search for speed cameras, river crossings, address book entriesetc, or for the presence of a contact in the region.

Another application of the embodiments of FIGS. 10-12 is in relation tosetting an alert region. For example the selected area may be an area inwhich the user wishes to receive warnings regarding the presence ofspeed traps. The PND may provide such alerts when the user enters orleaves the selected region, or both.

The selected region may be a region which the user wishes to monitor inrespect of a change. The change may be a change in relation to mapfeatures, e.g. speed cameras etc, or a given event, for example theentry or exit of a contact into the area. The PND may be arranged toprovide an alert when the given change occurs.

The FIG. 10-12 embodiment may be used in a wide variety of applicationswhere the user wishes to specify a selected region to the PND. This maybe as part of a process to set up the PND or provide user preferences.For example, the user may specify the extent of a selected region inrelation to which the PND is to carry out a function, such as providingwarnings of speed traps, information regarding fuel prices etc.

The embodiment of FIGS. 10-12 may involve determining and using digitalmap data in the form of navigation data to perform an operation inrespect of the selected region. Navigation data is digital map datawhich carries relevance for navigation in its broadest sense. Navigationdata may be data relating to the road network. Navigation data mayinclude data relating to the attributes of locations and/or roads in theselected region. For example this may include attributes of routes inthe form of speed limits, scenicity, average wind direction/speed,closed hours, danger levels, level of windingness, surface quality,typical traffic levels etc, although these are only a few of the manypossible types of attribute. The data may relate to attributes ofgeneral interest, or of interest to certain categories of user e.g.bikers. For example, bikers may be interested in how winding roads are,or the level of lorry traffic, road surface quality etc. In some cases,point or area based locations such as points of interest, contacts,favourites, local search results etc, may be considered to be navigationdata. Such point or area based locations, such as national parks etc mayinfluence the navigation data of routes passing through the area. Forexample, the presence of such points or areas may influence scenic levelof the route. The apparatus may be arranged to perform operations of thetype described above using such determined navigation data. By way ofexample, the apparatus may be arranged to perform a search for giventypes of navigation data relating to the selected region, e.g. aparticular type of road attribute etc. The apparatus may be arranged todisplay a particular type of navigation data e.g. road attributerelating to roads in the selected region. Digital map data in the formof navigation data may be stored by the navigation apparatus e.g. inconjunction with other types of digital map data, or may be obtained bythe apparatus e.g. in real time, or inferred from a person. For examplethe PND may be arranged to obtain location data relating to a person'sfriends from a social networking site.

In some further examples, the embodiment of FIGS. 10-12 may be used toset an area in respect of which certain navigation data, such asattribute data is to be searched for and displayed. Examples of suchnavigation data may include wind strength/direction, scenic level etc.Such information may be taken into account by a user to plan a route,and may influence whether the user wishes to avoid or go via the area.For example a caravan user may wish to avoid routes having high averagewind speeds. A biker may be interested in the level of windingness ofroads, the surface quality, typical levels of lorries etc.

Although the embodiments described in FIGS. 6 to 12 have been describedby reference to a system including a touch display, in which the userdirectly indicates a region of the map by touching a part of thedisplay, it will be appreciated that a pointer based system in which auser manipulates a cursor could also be used, or any other suitabletechnique which enables the user to indicate a selected region on themap display. Such implementations might be appropriate in relation to amapping device provided by a computing resource rather than a PND,enabling the user to interact with the digital map and cause operationsto occur in relation to the digital map data using a mouse, touch pad orother such interface. It is envisaged that a key or rotary based inputcould also be used in some situations.

The embodiment of FIGS. 11 to 12 is particularly applicable to non-touchbased systems. For example, the user could specify the centre point ofthe boundary using a mouse click or operation of a user input devicesuch as a rotary dial or a button once a cursor had been positioned inthe appropriate part of the display. Rather than providing a boundarywhich grows over time or in response to a user action, the PND maypresent the user with a boundary illustrated on the display which theuser may manipulate using a user input device such as a dial, mouse,touch pad etc. to indicate the selected region.

While the embodiments of FIGS. 6 to 9 have been described by referenceto the use of a single touch gesture, it is envisaged that a multi-touchgesture could alternatively be used to provide a selected region in theform of a path to be calculated. Regardless or whether a touch basedindication or other form of indication is used, the path may be selectedusing one or more indications. For example, rather than being formed bya single line drawn on to the displayed map as shown, the path may beselected using multiple indications which together provide the selectedregion or path, such as two lines drawn perpendicular to one anotheretc.

In accordance with any of the embodiments, and particularly that ofFIGS. 10-12, the processor may be arranged to infer a selected area fromone or more indications provided by a user. For example, the user mayprovide one or more indications of an approximate area from which theprocessor may infer a precise selected area. The user may generallyindicate a region comprising both land and sea, e.g. a cluster ofislands. The processor may then be arranged to infer a boundary of aprecise selected region including only the land parts of the area. Thismay be achieved using a suitable underlying algorithm. In anotherarrangement, the processor may infer from an indication within a givenregion the entire region is to be selected. For example, an indicationof a region comprised in a state may allow the processor to infer thatthe entire state is to be selected. The way in which the processorinfers the selected region from an indication may be set by, forexample, specifying a mode of operation of the device, or performinganother setting operation. Such settings may be specified by a user, orpreset. The processor may operate according to a default settingdepending upon the type of operation the user is trying to perform e.g.map correction, search etc.

A further application of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 to 12 would bein relation to map corrections. The PND may include an option in themain menu of the type shown in FIG. 5 a inviting the user to submit amap correction. When the user selects this virtual button they mayselect a region of the map to be displayed including an area in whichthey wish to make a correction. Conventionally a correction is specifiedusing a menu-based system to enable the user to identify the nature ofthe correction, and the part of the map to which it is to be applied.However using the techniques of the present invention, the user mayinstead indicate the change to be made directly using a gesture on thedisplay, or otherwise pointing to a part of the display using a touchbased system or otherwise. For example the user may swipe over a one-wayroad to change the direction of the road, or may carry out a wipinggesture on a road that is blocked, draw in turn restrictions,roundabouts etc. The PND may be arranged to infer from the nature of thegesture the type of correction to be made.

Another application, particularly relevant to the embodiment of FIGS.10-12, would enable a user to specify an area to enable them to inputdigital map data. For example the user may specify a selected region inrespect of which they wish to submit additional or modified navigationdata. The navigation data may attribute information for a given road orlocation of the region. For example the user may wish to mark a route asbeing susceptible to high wind speeds, dangerous, fun etc. Suchnavigation data may then be useful to other users e.g. caravan users inthe case of wind speed, when setting routes.

The embodiments of the invention thus provide an improved method wherebythe user may interact with the underlying digital data of a map displayby selecting a region of the map by selecting a region of the map usingan indication directly on the displayed map. This selection does notmerely result in the manipulation of the map, but enables the system todetermine digital map data corresponding to at least part of theselected region of the displayed map and carry out a navigation ormapping function using the data, or a function in relation to thespecified region. In this way, the number of inputs required by the userto specify a desired operation may be significantly reduced. In thecontext of a navigation system this may reduce levels of driverdistraction, but in the context of all types of mapping or navigationsystem the user is provided with a more intuitive interface and greaterease of use.

It will also be appreciated that whilst various aspects and embodimentsof the present invention have heretofore been described, the scope ofthe present invention is not limited to the particular arrangements setout herein and instead extends to encompass all arrangements, andmodifications and alterations thereto, which fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

For example, whilst embodiments described in the foregoing detaileddescription refer to GPS, it should be noted that the navigation devicemay utilise any kind of position sensing technology as an alternative to(or indeed in addition to) GPS. For example the navigation device mayutilise using other global navigation satellite systems such as theEuropean Galileo system. Equally, it is not limited to satellite basedbut could readily function using ground based beacons or any other kindof system that enables the device to determine its geographic location.

It will also be well understood by persons of ordinary skill in the artthat whilst the preferred embodiment implements certain functionality bymeans of software, that functionality could equally be implementedsolely in hardware (for example by means of one or more ASICs(application specific integrated circuit)) or indeed by a mix ofhardware and software. As such, the scope of the present inventionshould not be interpreted as being limited only to being implemented insoftware.

Lastly, it should also be noted that whilst the accompanying claims setout particular combinations of features described herein, the scope ofthe present invention is not limited to the particular combinationshereafter claimed, but instead extends to encompass any combination offeatures or embodiments herein disclosed irrespective of whether or notthat particular combination has been specifically enumerated in theaccompanying claims at this time.

1. A navigation or mapping apparatus, the apparatus comprising: adisplay for displaying a digital map to a user; a processor configuredto access digital map data and cause a digital map to be displayed to auser using the display; and a user interface operable by a user toenable the user to interact with the apparatus; wherein the userinterface is arranged to allow a user to select a region present in thedigital map by providing one or more indications on the displayeddigital map in use, and wherein in use, when a selection of a regionpresent in the digital map is received from a user, the processor isarranged to determine digital map data relating to the selected region,and to carry out one or more mapping or navigation operations using thedetermined digital map data; and wherein the selected region includes aregion of the map to be included or avoided in a route to be calculated,and the processor is arranged to calculate a route which includes orexcludes at least a part of the selected region using the determineddigital map data.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor isarranged to cause the calculated route to be displayed on the digitalmap.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is arranged tocause a proposed route to be displayed on the digital map, wherein theselected region includes a region of the digital map to be included oravoided in a modification of the proposed route, and wherein the routecalculated by the processor using the determined digital map data is amodification of the proposed route.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 whereinwhen the selected region does not include a portion of the proposedroute, the processor is arranged calculate a modified route going via atleast a part of the selected region, and when the selected regionincludes a portion of the proposed route, the processor is arranged tocalculate a modified route avoiding at least a part of the selectedregion.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is arrangedto access and cause real time information relating to traffic to bedisplayed on the digital map, wherein the selected region includes aregion of traffic to be avoided in the calculated route.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is arranged to cause theselected region to be highlighted on the map as it is selected by auser.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a touchsensitive display to enable the user to select the region by touching apart of the display.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the selectedregion is a continuous region.
 9. A method of operating a navigation ormapping apparatus, the method comprising controlling the navigation ormapping apparatus to perform a method including the steps of: accessingdigital map data and using the accessed digital map data to display adigital map on a display of the apparatus; receiving from a user via auser interface of the apparatus a selection of a region present in thedisplayed digital map, wherein the region is selected by the userproviding one or more indications on the displayed digital map;determining digital map data relating to the selected region; andcarrying out one or more mapping or navigation operations using thedetermined digital map data, wherein the selected region includes aregion of the map to be included or avoided in a route to be calculated,and wherein the method performed further comprises calculating a routewhich includes or excludes at least a part of the selected region usingthe determined digital map data.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein themethod performed further comprises the step of displaying the calculatedroute on the digital map.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the methodperformed comprises displaying a proposed route on the digital map,wherein the selected region includes a region of the digital map to beincluded or avoided in a modification of the proposed route, and whereinthe route calculated using the determined digital map data is amodification of the proposed route.
 12. The method of claim 11 whereinwhen the selected region does not include a portion of the proposedroute, the method performed comprises calculating a modified route goingvia at least a part of the selected region, and when the selected regionincludes a portion of the proposed route, the method performed comprisescalculating a modified route avoiding at least a part of the selectedregion.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the method performed furthercomprises accessing and causing real time information relating totraffic to be displayed on the digital map, wherein the selected regionindicated by the user includes a region of traffic to be avoided in thecalculated route.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the selected regionis a continuous region.
 15. A portable navigation device (PND)comprising the apparatus in accordance with claim
 1. 16. An integratednavigation system comprising the apparatus of claim
 1. 17. Anon-transitory computer program product comprising computer readableinstructions executable to perform a method according to claim 9.